'Justified' - 'Get Drew': Can't always get what you want

Everyone on
"Justified" knows who Drew Thompson is now. Solving that mystery, though, has not even remotely tied things up for this season. If anything, knowing Drew's identity has made the situation even messier.

That's a particularly
Elmore Leonard-esque twist for Tuesday's (March 12) episode, "Get Drew," which echoes the titles of one of Leonard's best-known novels. Drew does indeed get got (though not in "The Wire" sense), but even Raylan and Co., who now have their man in custody, don't seem too thrilled about it. Raylan neatly sums up the situation after Art notes it's a big accomplishment for Raylan and the marshals: "We're standing in a field. We haven't done s***."

Everyone in the hunt for Drew comes away wanting by episode's end. Theo Tonin still doesn't have his man. Boyd, having given up his and Ava's nest egg to Limehouse(!) in exchange for Drew, is $300,000 poorer and now on the wrong side of Tonin -- and still has to worry about Ellen May, who's still in Noble's Holler and distraught at having to leave Shelby/Drew's side.

Wynn Duffy is headed out of town, with or without his bodyguard, possibly taking Johnny's chance to usurp Boyd with him. And the marshals know Tonin's crew will do whatever needs to be done to get to Drew -- "We just have to figure out how to get out of Harlan alive," Raylan says.

That's the last line of the episode, and it has me hoping that at least next week's episode is the "Justified" version of
"Midnight Run," with Raylan trying to take Drew wherever the marshals need to take him while Boyd and the Dixie Mafia chase them, with lots of great banter along the way.

That probably won't be exactly how it plays out. "Midnight Run" wraps up a little too neatly for this particular Elmore Leonard world, and just as everyone walks away dissatisfied in this episode, not everyone will get what they want* at the end of the season either. It's not a bad bet to think no one will be perfectly content when it's all over.

(*Side note: Raylan has Johnny Crowder's number, does he not? He nailed Johnny's desire to get out of Boyd's shadow. Johnny is clearly no dummy, but he doesn't seem to see beyond his next move, which could be bad news in trying to deal with Boyd.)

After last week's reveal of Drew Thompson, "Get Drew" had to do a lot of work in setting up the season's final run. But it did that with style befitting Raylan Givens' creator. Elmore Leonard should be proud.

What did you think of "Justified" this week, and where do you think the final three episodes will take everyone?